By SudOuest.fr with AFP
The first deadly attack claimed by Yemeni rebels on UAE soil resulted in the deaths of three people. France, the UN, the United States, London or even Iraq reacted
Three people died Monday, January 17 in an explosion in Abu Dhabi, the first attack of the Yemeni rebels, which they claimed Monday evening, on the soil of the United Arab Emirates and to which the authorities threatened to retaliate.
“The armed forces (of the Houthis) carried out a qualitative and successful military operation within the framework of an operation dubbed Yemen Hurricane,” said their spokesman Yahya Saree in a statement broadcast on their Al-Massira channel on Monday evening. “Many important and sensitive Emirati sites and facilities” were targeted with ballistic missiles and drones, he said.
The Emirates are members of a Saudi-led military coalition that has been operating in Yemen since 2015 in support of government forces at war against Iran-backed Houthi rebels.
During the day, three tankers exploded “near the storage tanks of ADNOC”, the oil company of Abu Dhabi, resulting in the death of a Pakistani and two Indians, indicated the official Emirati agency WAM, reporting “six injured”.
In addition, a “minor fire” occurred in “the new construction area of Abu Dhabi International Airport”, added the agency without reporting any casualties.
The explosion and the fire were “probably” caused by “drones”, “flying objects” having “fallen” on the two places affected.
AFP
The explosion and the fire were “probably” caused by “drones”, “flying objects” having “fallen” on the two places affected, said WAM, citing the Abu Dhabi police who have launched an investigation .
This attack by Houthi rebels is the first to cause deaths on Emirati territory. The Houthis have in the past threatened to strike and claimed responsibility for attacks that have never been confirmed by the authorities of this Gulf oil monarchy. Yemen’s Houthi rebels on Monday called on civilians and foreign businesses to “stay away from vital facilities” in the United Arab Emirates, after claiming responsibility for an attack that left three people dead in the capital Abu Dhabi.
“We warn foreign companies, citizens and residents of the enemy state of the UAE that they should stay away from vital sites and installations for their own safety,” rebel military spokesman Yahya said. Saree, in a speech broadcast by the Houthi channel, Al-Massira.
The UN and Iraq condemn
Quoted by WAM, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned this attack against “civilian installations on Emirati territory” and warned that it “will not go unpunished”.
“The Emirates reserves the right to respond to these terrorist attacks and this sinister criminal escalation,” he said.
“This thoughtlessness and irresponsible absurdity are doomed to annihilation,” warned Anwar Gargash, diplomatic adviser to the President of the Emirates, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed, on Twitter.
Many reactions, including France
Allies of the Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain have also pointed the finger at the Yemeni rebels by denouncing a “terrorist” act.
Iraq also condemned the attack, as did UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres. The UN chief asks them “to prevent any escalation in a context of heightened tensions in the region”, added Stéphane Dujarric, recalling that “attacks against civilians or civilian infrastructure were prohibited by international humanitarian law “.
Monday evening, France, in turn, condemned the attack against the Emirates. “The President strongly condemns the attacks suffered by Abu Dhabi, and supports the United Arab Emirates”, indicates the French presidency, specifying that France remains “mobilized in favor of a lasting political solution in Yemen”. Jean-Yves Le Drian, Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs described the attack as a “threat” to regional “stability”.
In the process, the United States promised to “hold accountable” the Yemeni rebels pro-Iran Houthis. “The United States strongly condemns today’s terrorist attack in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, which killed three innocent civilians,” said White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan. “The Houthis claimed responsibility for the attack, and we will work with the UAE and our international partners to hold them accountable,” he added in a statement.
Then British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss also “condemned” the attacks on Monday evening. “I condemn in the strongest terms the terrorist attacks claimed by the Houthis against the United Arab Emirates,” she tweeted, following in the footsteps of Paris and Washington.
In return: airstrikes
“If the Emirates continue to attack Yemen, they will not be able to withstand painful strikes in the future,” Abdellilah Hajar told AFP in Sanaa, the capital of Houthi-held Yemen.
The coalition fighting the rebels in Yemen announced Monday night airstrikes on Sanaa. “In response to the threat and a military necessity, airstrikes are starting in Sanaa,” she announced in a tweet from SPA, the official news agency of Saudi Arabia, which leads this coalition.
Rebels stepped up attacks
The conflict in Yemen, which has killed 377,000 people, has intensified in recent weeks with an increase in raids by the military coalition and ground offensives by government forces.
For their part, the rebels have multiplied the attacks of missiles and drones against Saudi Arabia, a country neighboring Yemen.
The Riyadh-led coalition on Monday reported an increase in the number of “drone bombs launched by the Houthis from Sanaa International Airport”.
She also claimed to have “intercepted and destroyed eight drones launched in the direction of the kingdom” Saudi.
Iran, which has a difficult relationship with the Emirates, openly supports the rebels while denying supplying them with weapons, which its political opponents Saudi Arabia and the United States accuse.